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<title>Joey Drew Studios: Humble Beginnings by Ruby_Dragonryder, TheInkedFantasy (Ruby_Dragonryder)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295981">Joey Drew Studios: Humble Beginnings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruby_Dragonryder/pseuds/Ruby_Dragonryder'>Ruby_Dragonryder</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruby_Dragonryder/pseuds/TheInkedFantasy'>TheInkedFantasy (Ruby_Dragonryder)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rewritten Story AU [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bendy and the Ink Machine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Pre-studio</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:41:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24295981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruby_Dragonryder/pseuds/Ruby_Dragonryder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ruby_Dragonryder/pseuds/TheInkedFantasy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of the studio, from how Henry and Joey met to the day Henry quit.</p><p><strong>This Update:</strong> <em>The Studio Artaholic</em></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Henry Stein/Linda Stein, Susie Campbell/Sammy Lawrence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Rewritten Story AU [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Forging of Brotherhood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just so you know, these will probably be posted in chronological order by when they happened in the storyline, not when I wrote them.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's a dark night at the Stein home, but maybe we can make it a little brighter with some hope?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a scene from when both of the boys were only nine-year-olds at a sleepover at Henry's parents house after Joey's parents died in a car crash a few weeks before and Joey's brother already got adopted. </p><p>Enjoy the floof and lore.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nine-year-old Henry Stein woke up at 2:45 in the morning to the sound of crying and knew exactly what was going on. </p><p>"Joey?" he asked softly, crawling over to the edge of his bunk to climb down the ladder. </p><p>His best friend's sobs hitched for a second as Joey was startled by Henry's question. </p><p>"Y-y-you're s-s-supposed to be as-s-sleep," Joey said quietly, trying and failing to hide the fact that he was crying. </p><p>"What's wrong?" Henry asked as he climbed onto the bottom bunk with his best friend. </p><p>"I j-just r-realized that after th-this s-sleepover, I m-m-might n-never s-see you ag-gain!" Joey's sobs returned to their original intensity as he clung to Henry's form. </p><p>Henry held him close as he processed that. It took a moment for him to realize that Joey was right.</p><p>With Joey's parents dead from the car crash the week before, Joey and his younger brother Michael had been placed in the orphanage. Michael was adopted immediately, the five-year-old being the perfect age and disposition to be a proposition for new family, but Joseph Anthony Drew had been labeled a problem child because of his ADHD that caused all sorts of problems for him, from harder learning to lack of focusing to his compulsivity.</p><p>No one seemed to want Joey Drew.</p><p>If this kept up, Joey would be shuffled from orphanage to foster home until he came of age at 18, and that would probably mean that Henry and Joey would never see each other again. </p><p>"Hey, hey, we don't know that!" Henry said, trying to be reassuring. </p><p>"Yeah, we do! The orphanage lady Mrs. Neiterlander said that if I'm not adopted by the end of the month, I'm going to a foster home in Rochester! And that's almost 350 miles away!" Joey cried in despair. </p><p>"We don't know that it's <em>that</em> far away," Henry objected. </p><p>"Yeah, we do! I took a map and measured it with a ruler! It's that far by road! We'd never see each other! We'd barely even still be in the same state!" </p><p>Good thing Henry had come up with a plan a few days before then. After all, Henry was an only child whose parents had always wanted another but kept having miscarriages until they finally just stopped trying. It didn't take much to convince his parents to adopt the young Drew into their household, especially since Henry learned that his parents had been considering it anyway and just had yet to take the idea up with Henry himself.</p><p>And besides, Henry was pretty sure that orphanages didn't allow sleepovers just for fun. No, his parents had told him otherwise. This was the orphanage seeing if Joey felt safe and happy in their home after they had inspected it and considered it good for children. </p><p>Now, this plan was supposed to be a surprise... but his friend was so sad! He couldn't just let Joey think that Henry was just going to let them take his best friend away! </p><p>After thinking over the consequences of such an action and listening to his best friend cry into his chest as he held him close a little longer, Henry came to a decision. "If I tell you a secret, do you promise to act surprised?" Henry asked finally. </p><p>Joey looked up. "H-huh?" he asked, his breath still hitching but his tears slowing slightly. </p><p>"I know a secret, and you aren't supposed to know about it until breakfast later, but I hate seeing you like this, so I'll tell you it as long as you promise to pretend to be surprised for my parents, okay?" Henry repeated. </p><p>Joey nodded, wiping at the tears on his cheeks. "Wh-what is it?" he asked through his sniffles. </p><p>Henry looked around before whispering, "My mom and dad... They're... planning on adopting you into our family."</p><p>Joey stared at him, searching for any sign of deception. "R-really?" he asked hopefully, his eyes lighting up as his spirits lifted.</p><p>Henry knew that Joey couldn't afford to allow himself to raise his hopes that high. This would be a dream come true for him if it was real. If it turned out to be a trick or a hoax, Joey would shatter. But it wasn't either of those. This was real.</p><p>"Yeah," Henry replied with a smile. "We talked together and we decided to adopt you, Joey." </p><p>"That's... I don't know what to say... Th-thank you!" Joey's tears started anew, but not because of sorrow, but of joy and relief knowing that he and Henry would get to stay together. </p><p>"I thought you would like that," Henry said with a smile. </p><p>"Does this mean... that we'll be... brothers?" Joey asked suddenly, a hopeful tilt to his voice. </p><p>Henry thought about that for a minute before replying, "Yeah. I guess it will."</p><p>Joey smiled. "I think I like that," he said sleepily.</p><p>"Me too," Henry yawned. </p><p>"I love you... brother..." Joey said as he fell asleep again in Henry's arms. </p><p>"I love you, too, Joey..." Henry whispered as he too fell fast asleep, both waiting for dawn to wake them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I have more that I could do with the young duo, so tell me if you like it and want me to continue it and if you have any suggestions for what to do with the boys, feel free to put them in the comment section. </p><p>I hope you enjoyed this!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Studio Artaholic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Henry doesn't take care of himself, and freaks his two closest companions out.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a silly studio scene. Nothing to see here.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was just a normal day at Joey Drew Studios when Joey walked into Henry's favorite drawing spot to find him pale and shaking. </p><p>"Henry... Are you okay?" Joey asked carefully. </p><p>"What?" Henry asked, startled out of his drawing. "Y-yeah. I'm just fine. Why do you ask?" </p><p>"You seem... paler than usual," Joey said tentatively, looking his friend over. </p><p>"I'm... just... fine..." Henry slurred as he dropped his sketchpad and half-curled into a ball as he fell out of his chair. </p><p>"Henry, what are you doing?" Joey asked in alarm, rushing over to him. </p><p>"I don't know..." he muttered. </p><p>"All right, let's get you to the break room," Joey said as he grabbed Henry's arm and helped him up. "You need sleep or something. And I'm calling Linda." </p><p>"I'm fine, Joey," Henry protested. "Besides, I have to get back to my work. The deadline's in three days and we can't... miss it..." </p><p>Henry sank to the floor unseeing, muttering about how dark it was <em>why was it so dark who turned off the lights?!</em> and Joey freaked. </p><p>"Someone call Linda!!" Joey yelled, trying to figure out what was wrong with his best friend. </p><p>Two minutes later, Linda rushed in from her infirmary, as she was the studio nurse. (She insisted that anyone else would botch the job.) "What is it?" she asked immediately as she ran into the break room, only to find Henry on the couch with Joey fussing over him. "What happened to my fiance?!" </p><p>"I don't know! He just collapsed on the floor!" Joey sobbed, tears streaming down his face from worry. </p><p>"Did you try giving him something to eat?" she asked as she went to check the temperature of her cold and clammy fiance. </p><p>"N-no, but I can get on that now!" Joey rushed over to the break room kitchen and grabbed a banana and a granola bar before rushing back with equal speed, practically shoving the banana in his friend's face after peeling it. </p><p>Henry weakly takes the banana and bites into it, finishing it off in seconds before taking the granola bar. "Thanks... Looks like I needed that," he said with a soft smile. </p><p>Linda shook her head. "Henry, when was the last time you ate?" </p><p>Henry answered immediately. "Breakfast this morning." </p><p>"Before that?" </p><p>"Um... Breakfast yesterday morning?" Henry replied sheepishly. </p><p>Linda put her hands up in disbelief. "You've been starving yourself?! Why?!" </p><p>"I wasn't hungry! And I had work to do so I thought--" </p><p>"You thought that by skipping meals you'd get more done? Yeah, that's not going to fly. You are having mandatory meals from now on. <em>Mandatory meals</em>. I'll have Joey feed them to you if I have to," Linda scowled. </p><p>Henry turned to Joey for support, but no dice. Joey was busy gathering his words so that he could scold Henry too. </p><p>"You--Why--HENRY!! YOU WERE STARVING YOURSELF?!?!" Joey sputtered, face red. </p><p>"The deadline's in three days! I just wanted to make sure we made it this time--" </p><p>"THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN MISSING DEADLINES!!! SPECIFICALLY YOU PASSING OUT ON THE FLOOR FROM--FROM--" Joey looked at Linda. </p><p>"Low blood sugar," she supplied. </p><p>"LOW BLOOD SUGAR! YOU ARE NOT GOING BACK TO WORK ON THOSE DRAWINGS UNTIL YOU GET A PROPER MEAL!!! GOT IT?!?!" </p><p>Henry sighed. "Yeah, I got it." </p><p>"Good! Now go eat something more than a banana and a granola bar," Joey fumed. </p><p>Henry silently moped as he walked out of the room. </p><p>"We should go make sure that he doesn't just go straight back to drawing," Linda pointed out. </p><p>"I'll do it if you go get the donuts," Joey answered. </p><p>"Great. Those donuts will get him to eat if nothing else will," Linda chuckled. "And be sure that the others don't hear of this. They'll tear Henry apart for not taking care of himself and being a general idiot." </p><p>Joey chuckled. "Sammy wouldn't, but I know Wally and Shawn and Susie and Grant would. Besides, they're gonna come sniffing those donuts out, mark my words. Donuts in this studio are like wounded gazelles on the Serengeti." </p><p>"Henry's already wounded, so what does that make him?" Linda teased. </p><p>Joey laughed. "Lunch. That would make him lunch."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fun fact: This actually happened to me once, though I changed a few things to fit the studio. My mother was Joey and my dad was Linda and I was Henry, and it happened in my mom's bathroom as she was doing my hair. Go figure.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>That's it for now! Feel free to ask for chapters about your favorite studio staff! I will write about just about anyone, even if I already have. This is a fun AU to write about!</p><p>Until next time!</p><p>
  <em>- The Inked Fantasy</em>
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